Garment construction



July 15, 1941. A. CARTER GARMENT CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed-Aug. 1, 1938 NVENTOR BY 7 (3) ATTORNEY July 15, 1941. X H. A. CARTER2,249,198

GARMENT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1, 1938 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m H m (242,1;M ifdfwe ATTORN EY Patented July 15, 194i V cammirrcossrauc'rron vHorace A. Carter, Needliam Heights, Mala, as-

signer to The William Carter Company, Needham Heights, Mass., acorporation of Massachusetts Application August 1, 1938, Serial No.222,369

. 3 Claims.

This invention relates togarment construction and more particularly tothe construction of a pant or short-type garment which includes aconstricted girdle-like portion having a substantialcircumfe'rentlalelasticity. V

The garment of'my invention is formed froma blank cut from tubular knitfabric. Theairdlelike portion of the garment is constricted and receivescircumferential elasticity through the incorporation of elastic yarn ina section of the fabric during the knitting operation and preferablyincludes a continuous elastic yarn or yarns extending spirally of thefabric throughout a limited section thereof. Such yarn or yarns may beincorporated in tubular knit fabrics in a variety of manners known tothe art, illustrative examples of which will be described hereinafter.

In accordance with my invention, such elastic yarn or constrictedsection of fabric terminates in a lower leg-forming fabric section knitdlrectly to the constricted section. A fly front and crotch insertconstruction may be conveniently incorporated in or associated with thenon-constricted section.

The garment of my invention has the highly advantageous feature ofpresenting a minimum number of seams, thus not only permittingeconomical manufacture of the garment by reason of minimizing hand laborseaming operation, but also insuring qualities of comfort and durabilityin the finished garment. Thus my garment may be formed from a blank cutfrom a tubular knit fabric comprising alternate constricted sections andnon-constricted sections, thereby requiring seaming operations only inthe fly and crotch constructions and in the binding or hemmingoperations on edges of the blank. Such a construction avoids entirelyany side seams on the garment or any circumferential seams remote fromthe top and bottom edges thereof. Since seaming operation is arelatively expensive itemin garment manufacture, it will be understoodthat the utilization, of such tubular seamless fabric reduces the costof the garment to the ultimate consumer, yet provides all of thefeatures which are required by those who' demand a pant type ofundergarment havingan elastically constricted abdominal band.

A preferred form of my garment is illustrated. in the accompanyingdrawings in which,

Fig. l is a front view of my garment; i Fig. 2 is a back view of thegarment of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged representation of a fabric which may beconveniently used in' the fabrication of a garment in accordance withtion.

As previously stated, the fabric from which my garment may be formed mayconstitute any tubular seamless fabric having a constricted sectionwhich has circumferential elasticity imparted theretoby theincorporation of elastic yarn, which constricted section is knitdirectly to' a non-constricted knit fabric section.

my inven- Thus. in Fig. 1, I-illustrate an upper constricted garmentportion ll directly knit to a lower leg-forming portion 20. As shown thelower portion is suitably slit in front to form a fly construction andrecessed centrally infront and in back to permit the insertion of acrotch member. 30 extending from the lower edgeof the fabric in front tothe lower edge of the fabric in back thereby joining the front and backof the tubular fabric to form leg openingsfi As shown, I

the fly construction and crotch member insertion require the use ofseams as shown or of a similar nature. In the particular garmentillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown additionally leg openingbindings which may conveniently comprise woven or otherwise fabricatedelastic or inelastic webbing 40. I have also illustrated a finished topfor the garment by reason of a hemming operation including thecircumferentially extending stitch 50. p p

The crotch member 30 may be formed of any convenient fabric, although Iprefer to use a knit fabric which has some elasticity widthwise of thegarment. It is to be understood that other forms of crotch members orcrotch construction may be utilized in the formation of the garment ofmy invention. the particular crotch construction shown being anillustrative example of a suitable construction. Likewise the fLvconstruction may vary according to the particular desires of themanufacturer andmay even be omitted if desihed, the particularconstruction shown including overlapping or elastic yarns which areomitted from the porfabric sections 42 and 4|, one of which may, if

desired, comprise a portion of the tubular seamless knit fabric blankand the other of which may comprise an added fabric inserted by the useof the fly seams as shown.

As indicated by the dotted lines of Figs. 1 and 2, the constrictedsection II includes an elastic OFFICE stretch or' at least controllablelongitudinal fabric,'or to the use of inlaid elastic yarn, as dis--tinguished from elastic yarn knit in selected wales and courses, I havefound that the lensitudinal stretch in inlaid ribbed fabrics is of suchcontrollable character as to fulfill the requirements of this type ofgarment to the highest degree. Thus, for instance, the constrictedsection may be formed of fabric of the type shown and described inPatent No. 2,090,910 to C. B. Drumheller, the elastic yarn being omittedfrom the fabric after a predetermined number of courses have been knit,thus providing a constricted fabric section terminating in anon-constricted fabric section knit directly to the constricted fabric.

As a further example of a highly suitable fabric, I have shown in Fig. 3an enlarged representation of a ribbed knit fabric of inelastic yarnhaving inlaid elastic yarn. This Pig.- 3 represents the fabric ingreatly stretched condition. The particular fabric shown may beconveniently knit on a circular 8-feed rib machine having an equalnumber of dial and cylinder needles. Inelastic yarns fed at each feedare numbered i to 8 in Fig. 3, and as will be seen, the fabric is formedby operating the machine in a manner well known in the art with thecylinder needles knitting at feeds I, 3, {and 1; with the dial needlestucking at feeds 1, l, I and I; with the cylinder needles tucking atfeeds 2, 8 and t; with the dial needles knitting at feeds 2, I and t;with both cylinder and dial needles knitting at feed 4; and with one endof elastic yarn l2 inlaid between feeds 2 and 3 and with another end ofelastic yarn l4 inlaid between feeds 8 and I. During such operation, theelastic yarns H and [2 may be cut by well known automatic mechanism sothat the machine continues to knit the eight inelastic yarns withoutinlaying the elastic yarn; and inlaying of the elastic yarn may beresumed at will to provide a fabric having a section of inelastic yarnonly knit directly to a section having inlaid elastic yarn. Asrepresented in Fig. 3, the cessation or resumption of the inlayingoperation of each elastic yarn may be so timed that in the fabric, eachof the two elastic'yams will commence or end at substantially the samewale. While the commencement or termination of the two elastic yarnsneed not necessarily be at the same waie, I find it convenient to havethe two elastic yarns commence or end in approximately the same positionin the fabric to secure superior finish as well as for a reason whichwill be referred to hereinafter.

While I have illustrated each feed as a single yarn for simplicity inthe representation of the fabric, it will .be understood that one or allfeeds may be supplied with a plurality of ends of inelastic yarn.

Variations in this stitch may be made, as desired, as by substitutingwelt stitches, by inserting additional tuck or plain stitches, or by theuse of other than a 1 and 1 ribbed fabric. To impart designs to thefabric, stitch variations on recurrent needles may be carried throughoutthe fabric in selected wales or in selected courses or both.

While the elastic yarn which I prefer to use is of a rubber orrubber-like character woundwith inelastic threads of the type known asLastex, any elastic yarn may be substituted. Where, as

with Las the rubber thread is wound with yarn I find that in thefsbricof the type illustrated in Pig. 3 the elastic yarn will be firmlyheld in place by the inelastic knit fabric due to the interlocking so tospeak of the inelastic threads of the fabric with the inelastic threadswound on the rubber thread.

However, to insure that theends of the elastic yarn do not run throughthe fabric, I find it convenient to cut the tubular blank in fabricatingthe garmentso that the top i'iy seam 40 shown in Fig l, which may be, ifdesired, an extensible seam, overlies or more technically stitchesthrough the two ends of the two elastic yarns,

thereby anchoring them at the bottom. It is for this reason that Iprefer that the elastic yarns if more than one terminate in the samesection of the fabric so that thesingle seam It. may act to anchor bothof the elastic yarns. The hem seam It acts to firmly anchor the otherends of the elastic yarns. In Fig. 1, for convenience the dot and dashline indicates only one elastic yarn, whereas, infact, in the preferredform of my garment, a fabric having two ends of elastic yarn is utilizedas above described, the particular number of ends being unimportant solong as an elastic yarn extends in a continuous circumferential spiralfrom the bottom of the constricted section to the top thereof, which maybe the top of the garment, as shown in. my Preferred garment therebyforming an elastic waistline hem, or which may be spaced from the top ofthe garment dependent upon the character of garment desired.

I claim:

l. A pant type garment comprising a tubular seamless unitary andintegral knit fabric, a continuous elastic yarn incorporated throughoutand circumferentialiy constricting a limited section of said fabricwhereby the garment presents an abdominal band of tubular constrictedfabric knit directly to a lower non-constricted fabric section, and acrotch member joining a lower central edge of said fabric in front to alower central edge of said fabric in back to form leg openings for saidgarment.

2. A pant typ garment com rising a tubular seamless unitary and integralknit fabric, a fly construction in the front of said garment, acontinuous elastic yarn incorporated throughout a limited section ofsaid fabric and extending upwardly from the top of said fly in acircumferential spiral constricting said fabric whereby the garmentpresents an abdominal band of constricted tubular fabric knitv directlyto a lower non-constricted fabric section, and a crotch member joining alower central edge of said fabric in front to a lower central edge ofsaid fabric in back to form leg openings for said garment.

3. A pant type garment comprising a tubular seamless unitary andintegralv knit fabric of inelastic yarn, a fly construction in the frontof said garment, a continuous elastic yarn incorporated throughout alimited section of said knit fabric and extending upwardly from ananchorage at the top of said fly in a circumferential spiralconstricting said fabric whereby the garment presents an abdominal bandincluding both inelastic and elastic yarn of tubular constricted fabricknit directly to a lower non-constricted fabric section, and a crotchmember joining a lower central edge of said fabric in front to a lowercentral edge of said fabric in back to form leg openings for saidgarment.

HORACE A. CARTER.

